Live and Learn
by AngelOfDarkness217
Summary: When Shadow the Hedgehog has a winter encounter with our favorite speedy hedgehog, he begins to unexpectedly fall for him...well maybe not so unexpectedly as he once thought. I'm keeping this as rated "T" for now, but I'm sure the rating will go up in future chapters, most likely to rated "m". Please don't read this if you don't like Sonadow Sonic X Shadow romance. Thank You!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:  
Could It Be?

A full moon lit up the night in station square as a dark hedgehog stood by a street lamp that had it's bulb flicker and burn out. Now it was dark except for the moon and stars above. It was well past midnight when he heard a sonic boom, therefore giving away the unmistakable identity of the worlds fastest hedgehog. Seconds later there was a tap on his shoulder, causing him to slide open a crimson eye in an almost death glare for the other disturbing his peaceful evening.  
"Yes?" he said waiting to hear what the hyperactive hedgehog could possibly say that was so important to need his attention.  
"Hey Shadow, what are you doing up so late?" asked the cerulean hedgehog with his usual carefree spirited smile, which Shadow thought looked entirely cheezy, but he ignored anyways.  
"Hmph...I was going to ask you the same question hedgehog, don't you think it's a little bit past your bedtime?" replied the charcoal black hedgehog opening his other eye, clearly not going to be able to go back to his mid-winter sanctuary.  
"Well, for your information, I couldn't sleep, and in case you forgot, we're nocturnal, meaning we're awake at night." the cobalt hedgie retorted moving to sit down on a near by bench.  
"I know what nocturnal means, you don't have to explain it..." said Shadow taking a seat next to his blue alli.  
"Still, you never answered me when I asked you why YOU were up late..." Sonic said again bringing up the unanswered question. The dark hedgehog rolled his eyes.  
"Same here..." he replied exhaling a thick breath of air from his nose.  
"Like I said, nocturnal!" Sonic exclaimed with his trademark grin. The two sat alone in silence for about twenty minutes just looking up at the stars with Sonic asking an occasional question or two about the constolations, which Shadow knew all about from living on the space colony ARK fifty years ago; Maria had taught him what each and every one meant and the stories behind them. The temperature dropped a few degrees about five minutes after they had sat down, and Sonic began to feel the late winter's effects through his thick fur, while as Shadow enjoyed the freezing air. The azure hedgehog attempted to keep his teeth from chattering, as he didn't want the other to think he was a wimp when it came to the cold, but failed to do so. The sound of teeth clattering against one another filled the air next to the ebony hedgehog, who looked over at his shivering counterpart. He quirked an eyebrow at the hedgehog and thought about what he could do to ease the others discomfort.  
"Sonic, are you cold?" he asked, though it was obvious he was.  
"Y-yeah, a l-little..." he stuttered. Shadow hesitantly scooted closer to the other and wrapped his arms around the azure speedster in an attempt to share his body heat with him, which seemed to work as Sonic found himself curl into the other's patch of snowy chest fur. The dark hedgehog ran warm gloved fingers through the others' sapphire quills, making him purr in contentment. Suddenly comming back to his senses, Shadow pushed himself away from his shivering alli. Sonic looked at him with hurt in his eyes from the warmth having been taken away from him so harshly.  
"I-I'm sorry...I...y-you were so warm...I just..." Sonic stuttered while rubbing his peach arms with his hands.  
"No, I shouldn't have shoved you like that...it's just, holding you reminds me of Maria..." said the ebony hedgie picking a piece of lint off his glove. The cerulean hedgehog drooped his ears in shame.  
"I'm sorry Shadow, I didn't mean to make ya feel bad..." he half whispered.  
"Don't worry about me, I don't need your sympathy..." Shadow replied standing up. "Though, I appreciate your concern. Enough about me. Would you like to come to my cabin? I can already see you're shivering more than you normally would, and don't deny it..." Sonic looked at the hedgehog in amazement. Why was he all of the sudden being nice? Was he always too busy to notice, or did Shadow jusy recently have a change in heart? The azure hedgie pondered those questions for a moment, until he remembered what Shadow had asked him.  
"Oh! Uh...I guess, thanks!" he replied quickly while almost jumping off the bench. The dark hedgehog eyed him suspiciously, but ignored Sonic's incompetience.  
"Well," he said reaching into his quills and pulling out his usual green emerald. "You might want to hold on tight, it gets to be bumpy at times..." The blue hedgehog didn't even have the chance to protest, as Shadow had put an arm around his waist and pulled him tightly against his own. He held up the emerald and shouted two words. In a flash of light, they were gone.

Sonic and Shadow belong to SEGA!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Sick

Moments later they appeared at Shadow's door step. It seemed to Sonic that he lived in a two story cabin, but then again, the house looked fairly larger when he peeked around the corner of it. Shadow dug a small brass key out of his quills, and unlocked the door, allowing Sonic to enter first. Once the azure hedgie stepped inside, he let out a whistle.  
"Nice place ya got here Shadow..." he said walking further inside. There was a wide plasma screen television, a large dark green couch with matching love seats on either side, a wooden staircase leading to the upper part of the house, chocolate brown carpeting, tan walls, and a cozy little fire place underneath the television. The ebony hedgehog closed the heavy solid oak door and slid the chain lock into place.  
"Glad you like it, pull up a seat by the fire, I'll prepare a room for you..." Shadow said as he began to ascend the staircase. Sonic opened his mouth to say otherwise, but was cut off by a sneeze, followed by two more. The charcoal black hedgie let a short chuckle escape his mouth before taking another step up. He turned back and looked at his speedy counterpart.  
"In that case, I'll make some soup too..." he joked continuing up stairs. Sonic looked at the fire place and grabbed a cushioned wooden chair from the corner, then sat in front of the red-orange embers that remained in the pit. He gazed at the glowing pieces of ash and sighed. He knew he was sick, for the third time that year too. He hated being sick, but not because of the sickness itself, but the fact he couldn't run without being put on bed rest. The medicine was not the best either, but it was a close second to 'no running'. The hot coals had begun to warm the shivering hedgehog and eventually made him doze off. The sound of footsteps had slightly awoken the blue hero. He opened his eyes a crack to see what was going on, until he felt himself being carried by someone very strong; a blur of black and white confirmed his guess of it being Shadow, but he didn't have much time to think since he nodded off to sleep again. The ebony hedgie didn't notice his guest open his eyes and continued up the stairs. He made a right at the top of the staircase and walked to the room at the far end of the hallway. The door was left slightly open, so the dark hedgehog only nudged it with his foot. He laid the sleeping hero on the bed and removed his shoes before placing him under the covers. Shadow then left the room and came back with a bowl of cold water and a hand towel, which he dipped in the water and placed on the azure hedghog's forehead. Sonic only stirred a little, and settled again when the cold towel touched his head, making Shadow sigh in relief that he didn't wake him. For the next half-hour, the ebony furry sat in a chair by his guest's bed replacing the towel every five minutes. Eventually ruby eyes drooped lower and lower until they closed, losing the ability to stay conscious any longer. Shadow crossed his arms in front of him, and let his head fall on them, not caring if Sonic woke up before him. He was a light sleeper, right? He'd catch Sonic getting out of bed before he could even say "Hey" let alone get out from under the covers. All Shadow needed was a few...hours of...sleep...

Sonic and Shadow belong to SEGA!


	3. Chapter 3

Live and Learn Chapter 3

The sun began to rise over the tips of pine trees in the forrest that surrounded the cabin. It was nine in the morning, when Sonic opened heavy eyelids, and emerald orbs surveyed the room. His attention was drawn to the dark hedeghog sleeping at his bedside. He smiled and stared at his rival sleeping peacefully;he'd have to wake up sooner or later. The azure speedster leaned over, face to face with the hedgehog, and blew in his ear. Shadow twitched his ear and continued his slumber. Sonic giggled and waited a few seconds. Nothing. He blew into Shadow's ear again, this time gaining a small stir from the ebony hedgehog. Sonic was determined to wake him as gently as possible, but was beginning to run out of patience. Once more he pursed his lips to blow in his alli's ear, but what he didn't know was that Shadow had just sleepily lifted his head at the same time. Tan and Peach lips were lightly pressed together. Sonic was wide eyed and frozen on the spot, whereas Shadow was still waking up having not noticed the event...yet. Ruby eyes snapped open to stare into the deep green ones of his rival, jumping back from those lips with a red tint on his cheeks. The chair he sat in toppled over from the force of him leaning back. The ebony racer sat up quickly and glared daggers at his rival.  
"What the HELL are you doing?" Shadow yelled, still red in the face.  
"I was just trying to wake you up, I wasn't expecting you to jump up like a flippin' jack-in-the-box!" Sonic exclaimed in defence. The dark hedgie got up and set the chair back to its original position, muttering under his breath. He turned back to Sonic, hate lacing his eyes.  
"Mention this to to anyone, and I'll kill you Faker..." he said darkly. Sonic made an X motion over his chest and nodded.  
"You got it." he said with a blushing grin.  
"Go take a shower, you smell like dirt." Shadow said walking toward the door.  
"The bathroom is down the hall and to the left, towels are in the bottom cabinet..." having said that, the ebony hedgehog left the room. Sonic grabbed his shoes and followed Shadow's "orders". The cobalt hedgie opened the bathroom door and immediatly his jaw dropped. It doubled the size of the bedroom and had an enormous bath tub that, Sonic guessed, could fit at least four people in it. "Shad must be a bachelor if he's got such a huge house. I'll have to ask him later." the cerulean hedgehog said to himself. He opened the cabinet and pulled out a dark green towel, then went over to to shower, turned the knobs to fit his preferred temperature, and switched the flow to the shower-head.

Sonic and Shadow belong to SEGA! 


End file.
